Shipping container



Dec. 25, 1956 E. INDEN SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept.29, 1951 INVENTOR. Eduard Jzdezz Y AGT C, u z 1 r United States PatentSHIPPING CONTAINER Eduard Inden, Dortmund, Germany Application September29, 1951, Serial No. 248,917 Claims priority, application GermanyJanuary 17, 1951 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) This invention relates to ashipping container for the transportation of goods of all kinds,especially bottles.

The primary object of my invention is to generally improve suchcontainers. tainers which can be safely and easily secured to each otherwhen piled upon each other, and which at the same time permit that acontainer can be readily removed from the container underneath.

One known kind of the containers or cases referred to comprises a topframe made from angle irons, whereby the angle irons are arranged sothat the bottom of a container when placed upon an identical containerfits into the frame of the lower container, with the weight of the uppercontainer resting on the horizontal legs of the angle irons of the lowercontainer, and with the position of the upper container being laterallysecured by the upright legs of the angle irons of said lower container.The stability of a stack of such containers, however, is not sufficientto permit loading of the superimposed containers on a means oftransportation by tilting the stack without causing same to collapse.The containers of this kind have the further disadvantage that theframes become easily bent or deformed in any other way under thestresses applied in normal shipping practice. Stacking in the desiredfashion then becomes difficult or entirely impossible.

An important object of my invention is to provide a shipping containerwhich due to its novel construction is free from the shortcomingsoutlined above.

. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and other objects which willhereinafter appear, my invention consists in the shipping containerelements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are moreparticularly described in the specification and sought to be defined inthe claims. The specification is accomplished by drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the shipping container according to myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 22 of Fig.1, but illustrating two superimposed identical containers;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 33 of Fig.l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified containerconstruction according to the invention;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 55 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is explanatory of the action preventing the collapse of stackedcontainers upon tilting, as ensured in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 7 is a section through a modified frame, drawn to enlargedseale;

Fig. 8 illustrates another modified frame; and

Fig. 9 shows another modification of a frame.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and initially to Figs. 1 to3, the shipping container comprises upper and lower tubular frames 10,12 which are fastened to each other by sheet metal corner columns 14 ata dis-' One object is to provide con- Patented Dec. 25, 1956 tance whichcorresponds to the height of the container. The dimensions of the upperframe 10 are smaller so as to be surrounded by the lower frame 12 ofanother container of identical construction when the latter is placedupon the first mentioned container. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that thelower frame 12 is at least partly inwardly of the columns 14, whereasthe upper frame 10 is at least partiy outwardly of the columns 14. Thereare wires 16 tied around the columns, and the bottom 20 of the containeris secured to the columns by welding.

For the stacking of containers one on top of the other, I provideprojections 18 on the columns 14, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, whichprojections serve to support the lower frame 12 of a superimposedcontainer. The projections are provided so as to ensure that the lowerframe, with the container stacked upon a companion container, freelyreceives the upper frame of the companion or lower container and thatthe median plane of the lower frame of the upper container extends belowthe median plane of the upper frame of the lower container. Thisrelationship permits a, portion of the lower frame of the uppercontainer, upon a lateral displacement of the superposed container, toslide at least partly under the upper frame of the lower container.

It is also possible to provide that the bottom 20' of an upper container(see Figs. 5 and 6) comes to rest on the upper frame it) of a lowercontainer. When the bottom 26' reaches its resting position, the twoadjacent frames 10 and 12. are positioned so that the median plane ofthe lower frame 12" of the upper container will extend below the medianplane of the upper frame of the lower container. The lower frame isarranged down- Wardly of the bottom of the same container.

From Fig. 6 it can be clearly seen that the lower frame of the uppercontainer, upon a lateral displacement of the upper container, forinstance, by tilting, becomes caught under the upper frame of the lowercontainer, which prevents the upper frame from sliding any farther. Oneof the prerequisites for this action is that the upper boundary plane ofthe lower frame of the upper container extends between the median planeand the lower boundary plane of the upper frame of the lower container.

Instead of frames of circular cross section, I may use frames of anelliptic, rectangular or polygonal section as well (see Figs. 7, 8 and9), but the frames must always I be dimensioned and arranged so thatthey meet the referred to requirements when containers are piled uponeach other. Any displacement of superimposed containers relative to eachother must cause the lower frame of an upper container to slide underthe upper frame of the lower container.

It is believed that the construction and use of my shipping container,as well as the many advantages thereof, will be understood from theforegoing detailed description thereof. To explain my invention and itsapplication further, my container comprises an upper and a lower tubularframe which both are fixed in their spaced relationship by means ofupright sheet metal columns designed to resist twisting and torsionalstresses. To permit stacking of containers one on top of the other, thelength and width of the upper frame are smaller than the respectivedimensions of the lower frame by such amounts that the lower frame of anupper container will fit around the upper frame of the containerunderneath, whereby the bottom of the upper container may rest on theupper frame of the lower container. Thus it is made possible that thesupport of the upper container is distributed over a relatively largearea.

As has been shown, in one embodiment of the invention it is not thebottom of the upper container, that rests on the upper frame of thelower container, but the lower frame of the upper container which restson the lower container. In this embodiment the proper relative positionof the frames is maintained by providing projections on the uprightcolumns of the container, on which projections the upper container comesto rest with its lower frame. 1

- To give a pile of containers additional stability as required when agreat number of containers are piled upon each other and when such apile is to be tilted for transportation to permit a means oftransportation to he slid under the bottom of the pile for convenientloading, the frames of the containers are arranged so that the upperboundary plane of the lower frame of an upper container will extendbetween the median plane and the lower boundary plane of the upper frameof a lower container.

The advantages of the container according to my invention will becomeclea'r when a stack of cases is to be tilted for loading and the framestend to move relative to each other. In this case the lower frame ofeach upper case will shift into a position Where it interlocks with theupper frame of the lower case and cannot slide out of engagement. Sincethe hollow frames of my container are extremely resistant to shock andother stresses, the container of my invention can be securely stackedeven after long service.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my inventionin a. few forms only, many changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention defined in the followingclaims.

I claim:

-1. Shipping container including wall elements, a bottom, a top frame,and a bottom frame, said frames being horizontally supported by the wallelements and being of round cross section, the lower frame beingarranged downwardly of the bottom and at least partly inwardly of thewall elements, the upper frame being arranged at least partly outwardlyof the wall elements, the lower frame, with the container stacked upon acompanion container, freely receiving the upper frame of the companionor lower container, the median plane of the lower frame of the uppercontainer extending below the median plane of the upper frame of thelower container, the frames permitting the lower frame of the uppercontainer, upon a lateral displacement of the superposed container, toslide at least partly under the upper frame of the lower container.

2. In the container according to claim 1, the bottom being set inwardlyso as to permit the median plane of the lower frame .of the uppercontainer to extend below the median plane of the-upper frame of thelower container.

3. In the container according to claim 1, said elements, near theirupper end, being olfsetinwardly and forming a supporting shoulder forthe lower frame of a superposed companion container.

4. In the container according to claim 1, both the upper and lower framebeing symmetrically arranged with respect to the wall elements.

5. Shipping container including wall elements, a bottom, a top frame,and a bottom frame, said frames being horizontally supported by the wallelements and being of round cross section, the lower frame beingarranged downwardly of the bottom and at least partly inwardly of thewall elements, the upper frame being arranged at least partly outwardlyof the wall elements, the circumference of the lower frame permitting,with the container stacked upon a companion container, that the lowerframe freely receivesthe upper frame of the companion or lower frame,the upper boundary plane of the lower frame of the upper containerextending between the median plane and the lower boundary plane of theupper frame of the lower container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

